Method and an apparatus for promoting a product or brand

ABSTRACT

A method of promoting a product or a brand in a retail store, or of promoting customer loyalty comprises the steps of analysing data determined at a point of sale relating to purchases by a customer, e.g. data from a bar-code scanner, to determine whether a customer has purchased a particular product or brand or has purchased products equalling or exceeding a predetermined value and, if this is the case, entitling the customer to participate in a prize/bonus ticket game configured as a game of chance, conducting a game of chance based on a predetermined win table having a specified number of predetermined winning numbers each associated with a bonus or prize and a further number of no win stops, i.e. numbers which are not winning numbers, and in the case of a win, issuing to the customer a ticket which is a winning ticket associated with the product or product range. Also claimed is a method of operating a gaming machine and a method of promoting Internet shopping as well as a ticket dispenser

[0001] The present invention relates to a method of promoting a productor a brand in a retail store, to a method of promoting customer loyaltyto a retail store or chain of stores or sales outlet, to apparatus foruse in such methods and to alternative uses of such apparatus.

[0002] A wide range of promotional concepts are known and used in retailstores and sales outlets for specific products, such as a standdedicated to the sale of a particular range of products, for exampleties, in an airport.

[0003] Advertisements range from static advertising boards toilluminated or highlighted advertisements and to advertisements withmobile features aimed at capturing the attention of customers in a storeor at a sales outlet.

[0004] The advertisements are sometimes directed to a single product, orto a brand of products, and sometimes take the form of advertising by aretail store on its own behalf, frequently coupled with price reductionsor the like.

[0005] It is also known for retail stores to reduce the price of certainarticles for a certain period in the day, a so-called happy hour.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide improvedmethods of promoting a product or a brand in a retail store and customerloyalty to a retail store or chain of stores, as well as apparatus forcarrying out the method, which provide the customers with more incentiveto purchase specific products or brands or to remain loyal to aparticular store or chain of stores or sales outlet.

[0007] It is a further object of the present invention to providemethods and apparatus for motivating customers to take specific purchasedecisions.

[0008] It is a yet further object of the present invention to makeshopping more exciting for customers.

[0009] It is a further object of the invention to apply these promotionand advertising methods to the world of e-commerce by a multi-mediaversion of the apparatus.

[0010] It is a yet further object of the invention to provide methodsand apparatus of the above kind which are particularly suited to the wayretail stores and chains of stores are organised and which relieves themanagement of such retail stores or chains of administrative effort inconnection with the promotion activity.

[0011] It is a further object of the present invention to provideapparatus of a general type which can be used not only for the abovepurposes, but also for the issue of lottery tickets or other forms oftickets and which can be configured, for example, as a gaming machine.

[0012] Other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description.

[0013] In order to satisfy the above objects there is provided, inaccordance with a first aspect of the invention, a method of promoting aproduct or a brand in a retail store comprising the steps of analysingdata determined at a point of sale relating to purchases by a customer,e.g. data from a bar-code scanner, to determine whether a customer haspurchased a particular product or brand or has purchased productsequalling or exceeding a predetermined value and, if this is the case,entitling the customer to participate in a prize/bonus ticket gameconfigured as a game of chance, conducting a game of chance based on apredetermined win table having a specified number of predeterminedwinning numbers each associated with a bonus or prize and a furthernumber of no win stops, i.e. numbers which are not winning numbers, andin the case of a win, issuing to the customer a lottery ticket which isa winning ticket associated with the product or product range.

[0014] The invention is thus based on the concept that the promotion ofa particular product or brand of products can be made more exciting forthe customer and more effective because of enhanced customer interest ifthe customer is entitled, on purchasing a product or brand, toparticipate in a game of chance which give the opportunity for thecustomer to win a prize, with the validation of prizes taking place viaa type of lottery ticket.

[0015] The invention has recognised that many customers purchase scratchcard type lottery tickets at points of sale, for example at cash tillsof supermarkets or large stores and engage, of their own volition, ingames of chance. The present invention has recognised that this type ofbehaviour can be used to great effect as an advertising medium, not justpromoting the interests of the lottery company, but also basically theinterests of any manufacturer of any product or brand or, as will beseen later, the sales promotion of a store or chain of stores or indeedof any sales outlet, be it a tie shop in an airport or a newspaper shopon the corner.

[0016] More specifically, general advertising can be carried out so thata customer is aware that purchase of a particular product or brand mayentitle him to participate in a game of chance. Even if the customer isaware that such promotion is running he may, of his own volition,purchase the relevant brand or product. At the point of sale customerpurchases will normally be scanned by a barcode scanner. Information onthe identity of the products purchased is thus available to a computersystem through the barcode scanner. Thus, the information produced bythe barcode scanner can be interrogated to see whether the customer haspurchased a particular product or brand, or products equalling orexceeding a predetermined value and, if this is the case, can trigger asignal which entitles the customer to participate in a prize/bonusticket game configured as a game of chance.

[0017] The fact that the customer is entitled to participate in such agame of chance, as a result of his purchases, can be signalled to thecustomer, and indeed to other customers in a retail store or salesoutlet in a wide variety of ways, and in particular by the step ofoperating at least one display or advertisement associated with theproduct or brand. The game of chance is conducted on the spot and adecision is made, also on the spot, as to whether the customer has wonor lost. If the result is a loss, that is the end of the game and noticket is issued. In the event of a win a ticket is issued to thecustomer giving details of the win. The issue of a winning ticket canagain be coupled to the operation of at least one display oradvertisement associated with the product or brand. Again this isintended to promote customer awareness of the promotion that is runningand to encourage other customers to purchase the products and thus toparticipate in the game of chance and have the possibility of a win.

[0018] The win associated with the game of chance is recorded on theticket, which can itself be configured as a scratch card ticket (butmust not be so configured) and thus the customer is immediately able tocheck what he has won at the point of sale. Frequently, the win willsimply be a small win, such as a small rebate on the purchases made bythe customer, or a small sum of money, or the entitlement to purchasemore of the article concerned at half price or something of this nature.Such small wins will usually be paid out by the retail store or salesoutlet on the spot.

[0019] When the winning ticket is associated with a high win, forexample a television set, or a motorcar or a foreign holiday, then thecustomer will normally be expected to send the ticket to a companyresponsible for payment of the win.

[0020] By applying codes to the winning tickets, for example a barcode,it is possible for the company responsible for payment of the win, tocheck that the winning ticket is indeed a valid winning ticket and not aforgery. Clearly the prize is only transferred to the customer when theticket has been authenticated.

[0021] Because a customer learns of his win at the point of sale, theexcitement associated with a win will be apparent to other customers,particularly when a major win is involved. It will thus, on the onehand, motivate these other customers to participate in the promotion, orwill at least enhance the chances of them remaining loyal to the storeor sales outlet where such a promotion is running. At the very least,the air of excitement will help convert the shopping activity from afrequently dreary task to a more exciting prospect.

[0022] In a similar manner it is possible for a retail store or chain ofstores to use similar techniques for promoting their own salesactivities. Thus, an advertising campaign on behalf of a store or chainof stores, or indeed on behalf of any sales outlet, can be configured bythe store, or chain of stores, or sales outlet, or by their management,or by advertising consultants, such that a whole range of differentinputs can trigger a game of chance for a customer.

[0023] Thus, according to a second aspect of the invention, there isprovided a method of promoting customer loyalty to a retail store, orchain of stores, or sales outlet comprising the steps of analysing datadetermined at a point of sale relating to purchases by a customer, e.g.data from a bar-code scanner, to determine whether the customer haspurchased a predetermined article or an article having a predeterminedvalue or articles having a total value equal to or exceeding apredetermined value and, if this is the case, entitling the customer toparticipate in a prize/bonus ticket game configured as a game of chance,conducting a game of chance based on a predetermined win table having aspecified number of predetermined winning numbers each associated with abonus or prize and a further number of no win stops, i.e. numbers whichare not winning numbers and, in the case of a win, issuing to thecustomer a ticket which is a winning ticket entitling the customer to abonus or prize.

[0024] Accordingly, the purchase by a customer of any article, or anarticle having a predetermined value, or articles having a total valueequal to or exceeding a predetermined value, can for example be detectedby a bar scanner, or otherwise, and recognised as the entitlement toparticipate in a game of chance, which then runs in the same way asdescribed above. In addition, in retail stores or chains of stores whichissue cards to their customers, for example as loyalty cards or pointscards in connection with a purchase incentive scheme, or as creditcards, the customer card can be scanned and can itself trigger a game ofchance, simply on the basis that the customer is a loyal customer. Ifthe customer card is of a kind enabling the storage of data relating toprevious purchases, then the entitlement to participate in a game ofchance can be made dependent on the stored data relating to the previouspurchases by the customer. Particularly valuable customers can berewarded in various ways, such as, for example, the possibility ofparticipating in several games of chance, or by modifying the rules ofthe game of chance so that a loyal customer has a higher chance ofwinning.

[0025] It is a particularly important concept of the present inventionthat the method and apparatus used for carrying out the method can beset up in a way which is, on the one hand, compatible with normalbusiness activity in a retail store or outlet and, on the other hand,involves a high degree of security with little administrative effort onbehalf of the management of the retail store or sales outlet. Moreover,it is important to achieve a high level of operational reliability.

[0026] This can in particular be achieved, in accordance with a furtheraspect of the invention, by the use of a ticket dispenser for a game ofchance comprising a housing, a space within said housing for receiving apack of tickets in any form, e.g. in fanfold form or in roll form, adispensing mechanism for dispensing single tickets taken from said packof tickets, an electronic control associated with the dispensercomprising stored information relating to said game of chance, a ticketreader for reading identification information stored on said tickets,means for comparing said information with identifying information storedin said electronic control to check whether the pack of tickets is avalid pack and/or whether each ticket is a valid ticket and means forinhibiting said dispensing mechanism if said pack of tickets and/or anindividual ticket is not a valid pack of tickets or a valid individualticket respectively.

[0027] It is particularly beneficial if the electronic control includesa chipcard associated with the or each pack of tickets, with informationbeing stored on the chipcard.

[0028] Since the electronic control contains information identifyingvalid tickets, it is possible to check electronically that a valid packof tickets is present in the ticket dispenser, that a full packet oftickets is dispensed and that no tickets are missing, which couldindicate tampering by a third party. A ticket will only be issued whenit is identified by the software stored in the electronic control as avalid ticket. If the ticket dispenser is designed to issue a variety oftickets, for example tickets relating to a specific promotion from oneshaft and normal lottery tickets from another shaft, then it is possiblefor the software to check that the person loading the tickets into themachine has put the correct tickets into the correct shaft.

[0029] Moreover, it is possible for the software to check that thetickets that have been inserted into the ticket dispenser are those thatare related to the advertising campaign that is currently running andnot, for example, tickets left over from last week's advertisingcampaign. The correct association of tickets to a specific advertisingcampaign is particularly important because each advertising campaign canbe configured differently. The manufacturing or sales company willfrequently wish to approve the rules by which the campaign will be run,which prizes will be made available to the customers and the rules forthe game of chance, for example how frequently a win will occur.Moreover, since the tickets are all winning tickets, they will normallybe pre-printed with wins relevant to the advertising campaign that isrunning. Fundamentally, it would, however, also be possible to print thenature of each win on each ticket as it is issued, i.e. by means of aprinter incorporated in the ticket dispenser.

[0030] In addition to the tickets being associated with a particularadvertising campaign the advertisements that are running in the retailstore or at the sales outlet or point of sale will also generally beconfigured to support the advertising campaign. Thus, multi-mediadevices present in the retail store or at the sales outlet may beprogrammed to show certain video films or to display certain messagesconcerned with the advertising campaign. The electronic control is ableto check whether the advertising appropriate to the advertising campaignis running and to inhibit the advertising if this is not the case, aswell as indicating to an operator that something is a miss.

[0031] One particularly favourable aspect of the present invention isthat it is possible to configure the ticket dispenser so that it iscombined with an advertisement. For example the ticket dispenser cancomprise a vertically extending structure serving as a mount for aninterchangeable advertisement such as an interchangeable transparencybearing the advertisement or an interchangeable mask, sculpture or hoodwhich is placed over the vertically extending structure and generallyconfigured in a way drawing attention to the product or brand or salescampaign that is running. By providing an electronic feedback from therespective advertisement to the electronic control it is possible forthe electronic control to check that the correct advertisement is inplace for the advertising campaign that is running.

[0032] Means can also be provided for highlighting the advertisement,for example by the use of lights or movable elements or by audiblemeans, and indeed such highlighting can be triggered either duringspecific time periods or whenever the game of chance is won or is beingplayed.

[0033] It is particularly favourable when the electronic control can beaccessed from a point remote from the point of sale or place where theticket dispenser is located.

[0034] For example, the electronic control can contain a connection to adata network, for example the Ethernet, to link the data network to thepoint of sale terminals and from there to the wide area network of thechain of stores. For stores or points of sale not linked by a wide areanetwork, the data transfer can be effected by a wireless modem typicallyused in portable phones and operating, e.g., in accordance with theknown GSM system. Accordingly, a company responsible for administeringthe advertising campaigns and running the ticket dispensers can checkfrom its offices whether the ticket dispenser is installed correctly,i.e. with the correct tickets, with the correct advertising campaign andcarrying the correct sculptures or advertisements, and can indeed checkwhether the ticket dispenser is operating correctly. Thus interrogationis possible, from a central location, of a whole variety of ticketdispensers set up in a whole variety of different retail stores orpoints of sale and used to conduct different advertising campaigns atdifferent times.

[0035] Indeed, it is possible for the company administering advertisingcampaigns (which can provide a service to advertising agencies employedby the manufactures of the products or brands being promoted, or by thechain of stores, or can itself be an advertising agency) to check thatthe correct campaign is running correctly at a whole variety of remoteinstallations. Should problems be found, the company running theapparatus will run a service and can call the store and ask to correctthe problem or send its operators to the retail store or sales outlet inquestion to put things right. Thus, the retail store or sales outlet isrelieved of administrative efforts in connection with the advertisingcampaign, its role is basically reduced to one of making certain thatthe ticket dispenser is filled with the necessary packs of tickets andthat the right advertising transparencies are in place.

[0036] Because the usage of the tickets is monitored by the electroniccontrol, the company administrating the apparatus or the advertisingcampaign can also ensure that the particular store always has anadequate supply of tickets.

[0037] Moreover, because the store has electronic access to all theelectronic data in the machine, it is also able to authenticate winningtickets, by reference to a code applied thereto, to ensure that they aregenuine winning tickets and not fakes.

[0038] It is considered particularly favourable when the ticketdispenser is configured such that it can receive at least first andsecond packs of tickets with the dispensing mechanism being adapted toautomatically change over from the first pack of tickets to the secondpack of tickets when the first pack of tickets runs out. This designtakes account of the fact that the cashier, who will normally be busy atthe till, should not spend time replacing an empty pack of tickets witha full pack during his or her other duties. Thus, the reserve packensures that the refilling of tickets can be done (storewide) just onceor only a few times a day and that the dispensing mechanism does not runout of tickets unnecessarily. On changeover to the second pack anindicator on the dispensing mechanism will inform the operator of thefact that another reserve pack must be put in the machine at the nextround of refills.

[0039] It is particularly preferable when the ticket dispenser is usedin combination with a point of sale including a cash till, a bar scannerfor scanning barcodes on items purchased by a customer and when meansare provided for transmitting information between the cash till and/orthe bar scanner and the ticket dispenser. This means for transmittinginformation can comprise a data network and an electronic interface or aradio or infrared link.

[0040] In an arrangement of this kind a conveyor belt or other transportmechanism is provided alongside the cash till for conveying itemspurchased by a customer past a cashier seated at the cash till, withsaid ticket dispenser being provided behind said cashier when saidcashier is seated at said cash till optionally at a position in linewith said conveyor belt, wherein the front top part of the ticket shaftof said dispenser can be swung down into a horizontal position, theticket loading position, in which access is provided for the loading ofboth ticket packets.

[0041] An arrangement of this kind permits the ticket dispenser to beinstalled at a position adjacent the cash till where it does not hinderthe cashier's normal work and ensures that the associated advertisingcarried by it is within the field of view of the particular customer andother customers waiting at or in the vicinity of the point of sale.

[0042] Also in accordance with the invention there is provided aparticularly preferred ticket dispenser adapted to automatically changeover from a first pack of tickets to a second pack of tickets whereineach said pack of tickets comprises a continuous web of tickets, whereina conveyor roll is provided in said ticket dispenser and extendstransversely to a web conveying direction, wherein a first wall means isprovided at one side of said conveyor roll and defines with saidconveyor roll a first passage for conveying a first web of ticketsbelonging to said first pack of tickets, wherein a second wall isprovided at an opposite side of said conveyor roll and defines with saidconveyor roll a second passage for conveying a second web of ticketsbelonging to said second pack of tickets, there being actuating meansfor pressing a selected one of said first wall means and said secondwall means towards said conveying roll to clamp the respective webtherebetween for conveying movement in said conveying direction andmeans for driving said conveyor roll in a first direction when saidfirst web is to be conveyed and in a second direction when said secondweb is to be conveyed, whereby to produce in each case conveyingmovement of a selected one of said first and second webs in saidconveying direction.

[0043] A ticket dispenser of this kind is particularly well adapted foruse with so-called fanfold tickets but can also be used for dispensingtickets present on a roll. It is particularly advantageous that only oneconveyor roll is required for conveying either of the two webs oftickets belonging to the first pack of tickets or the second pack oftickets and that only a single reading means, for example itself in theform of a bar-code scanner, is necessary to read codes applied to eitherweb of tickets.

[0044] It is generally considered a rather difficult task to reliablyseparate tickets from a continuous web of tickets. On the one hand, theweb of tickets has to have sufficient strength that it does notcontinually break and interfere with the operation of the ticketdispenser. On the other hand, the person receiving the ticket should nothave to exert force to remove it and in any event a situation must beprevented in which the customer, by pulling on the ticket receives twoor more tickets when only one is intended for him.

[0045] In order to provide reliability in separating the tickets fromthe webs of tickets there is provided, in accordance with the presentinvention, a ticket dispenser including means disposed downstream ofsaid conveyor roll in said direction of conveying movement for bending aconveyed ticket at a leading end of one of said first and second webs toand fro about a line of weakness for the intended separation from saidweb to weaken a connection between said leading ticket and said webprior to separating said leading ticket.

[0046] Other particularly preferred features of the methods andapparatus of the present invention are set forth in the accompanyingclaims and will be apparent from the following description.

BRIEF LISTING OF THE DRAWINGS

[0047] The invention will now be described by way of example only and inmore detail with reference to a specific embodiment shown in thedrawings which represents the best mode of practising the inventioncurrently known to the applicant. In the drawings there are shown:

[0048]FIG. 1 a plan view of a point of sale in a retail store or at asales outlet,

[0049]FIG. 2 a perspective view of a ticket dispenser used at the pointof sale in FIG. 1,

[0050]FIG. 3 a cross-section through the ticket dispenser of FIG. 2 inthe plane III-III in FIG. 2,

[0051]FIG. 4 an enlarged view of the operating mechanism in thebottom-half of FIG. 3,

[0052]FIG. 5 a block diagram illustrating the main blocks of the ticketdispenser,

[0053]FIG. 6 a block circuit diagram to explain the electronic controlof the operation of the ticket dispenser configured in accordance withthe present invention,

[0054]FIG. 7 a flow diagram showing the principle of operation of aticket dispenser in accordance with the present invention,

[0055]FIG. 8 a flow diagram showing the principle of operation of aticket dispenser when configured to perform a game of chance beforeissuing a ticket,

[0056]FIG. 9 a flow diagram showing the principle of operation of aticket dispenser when configured for post point of sales promotion,

[0057]FIG. 10 a flow diagram showing the principle of operation of avirtual ticket dispenser when configured for post cashier pointpromotion in e-commerce,

[0058]FIG. 11 a block circuit diagram showing the principle of operationof a ticket dispenser when configured as a gaming unit,

[0059]FIG. 12 a diagram showing a basic layout for providing electronicaccess to four ticket dispensers at four points of sale, for example ina retail store having four cash tills,

[0060]FIG. 13 a layout diagram showing a possible layout for accessingfour ticket dispensers in a public house or gaming parlour which areadapted to dispense lottery tickets and/or gaming tickets,

[0061]FIG. 14 an example of a ticket dispenser configured as a gamingmachine in a public house or bar, and

[0062]FIG. 15 an example of a ticket dispenser configured as anadvertisement at a point of sale.

DETAILLED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS SHOWING THE PREFFERED EMBODIMENTS

[0063] Turning first of all to FIG. 1 there can be seen a plan view of apoint of sale, which can for example be one of a plurality of points ofsale in a supermarket or retail store, or a single point of sale 10 at asales outlet.

[0064] The reference numeral 12 indicates the usual cash till with achair 14 where the cashier normally sits. A transport belt 16 running inthe direction of the arrow 18 and controlled by the cashier 14 isprovided so that the customers can place their purchases 20 on theconveyor belt, e.g. at the position indicated with the reference numeral16. The purchases can then be conveyed towards the cashier, who eitherpasses them by hand over a barcode scanner 22 built into the table 24 orcan use a hand-held scanner (not shown) to read the codes such as 26(typically barcodes) present on products such as 20 purchased by thecustomer or key the codes in at the point of sales terminal. The ticketdispenser of the present invention is shown at 30 and is located behindthe cashier (when seated normally at the cash till 12) on the cashier'sside of the packing area 32 downstream of the scanner 22 where thecustomer normally takes the products for which he has paid. Thereference numeral 34 indicates a promotion shelf positioned on thecashier's side of the table in front of the cash till 12 which may, forexample, contain products such as cigarettes or the like. The referencenumeral 28 indicates an optional position for a keyboard, scanner anddisplay, as used, for example, in some retail stores.

[0065] It will be noted that the position of the ticket dispenser 30 issuch that it does not hamper the cashier's work nor does it interferewith the handling of the products purchased by the customer. Theposition of the ticket dispenser does, however, enable it to be clearlyseen by the customer being served at the point of sale and it is alsovisible to other customers waiting to pay for their purchases in thegeneral area around the cash till.

[0066] Turning now to FIG. 2 there is shown a perspective view of theticket dispenser 30 in the upright position it normally occupiesalongside and just above the packing area 32 in FIG. 1. It can be seenfrom FIG. 2 that the ticket dispenser 30 has a generally verticallyextending housing or structure 44 which serves, in a manner which willbe described later, to accommodate advertising displays, and a lowermouth section 53 resembling an open bird's mouth in side view, as seenin the direction of the arrow 48, with two dispensing slots 50 and 52being provided in the throat region 54 of the open mouth 56. The firstslot 50 serves to issue a prize ticket 58 associated with a game ofchance related to the promotion of a particular product or brand ofproducts or to promotional activity of the related store. The dispensingslot 52 serves to dispense a lottery ticket 60 which has beenspecifically purchased by the customer as part of his purchases at thecash till. Other dispensing slots and other forms of ticket could alsobe issued if appropriate, for example further tickets in connection withfurther promotions or tickets relating solely to a game of chance shouldthe sale of such tickets be permitted. Equally, the apparatus could bereduced to a single dispensing slot 50 if it is intended, for example,only for promotional activities in accordance with the invention.

[0067] The specific mechanical design of the dispenser 30 will now bedescribed in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, with FIG. 4being an enlarged view of part of FIG. 3 which better shows some of thefine details.

[0068] It can be seen from FIG. 3 that the back portion 62 of thevertical structure 44 can be swung open about a horizontal axis 64 whichprovides access to two shafts or compartments 66 and 68 one of which 66is provided in the fixed part of the housing 44 and the other of which,68, is provided in the rear openable portion of the housing configuredas a door. The shaft 66 accommodates a first pack of tickets 70 infanfold form and the shaft 68 accommodates a second pack of tickets 72,also in fanfold form. The tickets of the first pack of tickets 70 are inthe form of a continuous web of tickets 74 which are folded inconcertina-like manner with folds such as 76 at the top end 78 and atthe bottom end 80 of the stack. The web of tickets 74 is perforated orotherwise weakened at these positions and, for example, at the positions82 and 84 in FIG. 3.

[0069] The situation with regard to the second pack of tickets 72 is thesame, i.e. there are folds at the top and bottom ends 86 and 88 of thestack and perforations at the folds and at intermediate positions 90 and92. The representation of FIG. 3 also allows perforations to berecognised at points such as 94 on the first web of tickets 74 and 96 onthe second web of tickets 98. The tickets of one pack of tickets are allof the same length.

[0070] In the diagram of FIG. 3 the first web of tickets 74 has beenthreaded through a first passage 100 defined between a first wall 102and one side of a conveyor roll 104 having a rubber jacket. The firstroll of tickets 74 continues beyond the rubber roll 104 past a codereader 106 provided for reading a barcode printed on each ticket of thefirst web of tickets 74. The barcodes are arranged with the barstransverse to the direction of movement 107 of the web of tickets 74 sothat the barcode extends along the web of tickets, in which case thereader 106 can be a one dot reader. Should the barcode be printedtransverse to the direction of movement 107 the reader 106 must be alinear, optical reading, line sensor. The leading ticket 108 has beenfed by rotation of the conveyor roll 104 in the direction of the arrow110 into a bending mechanism 112 positioned in the drawing of FIG. 3, inthe solid-line representation, in line with the general direction ofmovement 114 of the first roll of tickets 74 through the first passage.The bending mechanism includes a further transport roll 116 which drawsin the leading edge of the leading ticket 108 and pulls it fully intothe bending mechanism 112 by rotation in the direction 118.

[0071] The extent of movement of the roll 116 in the direction 118 iscontrolled so that the correct length of ticket is drawn in and theperforation between the leading ticket and the next ticket comes to lieat a point shown by the reference numeral 120. This point 120 is in factan axis of pivoting about which the bending mechanism 112 can pivot toand fro in accordance with the arrow 122, i.e. between the position ofthe bending mechanism 112 shown in solid lines in FIG. 3 and theposition shown in dotted lines, in order to weaken the leading ticket atthe line of perforation, or at some other line of weakness, prior toseparation of it from the web of tickets 74. The motor for moving thebending mechanism is not shown here for the sake of simplicity. However,its operation is described later in connection with FIG. 6.

[0072] Although, in the preferred embodiment, the bending mechanism 112is pivoted to and fro in the direction of the double arrow 122 just oncefrom the full line position 112 to the broken line position in order toeffect adequate weakening of the connection it may do so a number oftimes to secure fuller weakening of the leading ticket from the web oftickets should the ticket type require this. The preferred method offracturing the weakened connection will be described later.

[0073] Once in the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 3, andassuming the connection of the leading ticket 108 to the web of tickets74 has been fractured as explained later, the transport roller 116 canthen be driven in the opposite direction 124 to feed the leading ticketinto a gap between an ejection roller 126 and a wall member 128 of thedispensing mechanism. In this way the ticket is issued through thedispensing slot 50. The diagram of FIG. 3 shows another ticket 108′which has just been issued through the dispensing slot 50.

[0074] During the period of dispensing tickets for the first web oftieckets 74, the leading ticket 130 of the second web of tickets 98 isstored in a second passage 132 to the right of the conveyor roll 104 inFIG. 3 so that it can be automatically taken into operation once thefirst web of tickets 74 has run out (or alternately to the ticket web 74if desired). In the situation shown in FIG. 3 the rear door 62 of thehousing has actually just been opened and a new web of tickets 98 hasjust been inserted so that the leading ticket takes the position 130shown in FIG. 3. Before operating the ticket dispenser the rear door 62must first be closed and a micro-switch (not shown in FIG. 3 but at 370in FIG. 6) must first detect the closing of the door to enable actuationof the ticket dispenser.

[0075] It will be noted that the loading position of FIG. 3 is theupright position of the ticket dispenser. I.e. the operating position ofthe ticket dispenser at the point of sale.

[0076] Turning now to FIG. 4 the detail of the internal mechanism of theticket dispenser will be explained in more detail.

[0077] As already noted the first passage 100 is formed between a firstwall 102 and the conveyor roll 104. A further passage 136 is definedbetween a second wall 138 and the other side of the conveyor roll 104.Between the two walls 102 and 138 there is provided, upstream of theconveyor roll 104, a V-shaped spring-loaded plate arrangement 140comprising a first plate 142 and a second plate 144 disposed in adownwardly opening inverted V-arrangement and pivoted together at theirends 146. Instead of a pivot 146 the two plates can be simply weldedtogether there or connected in a similar manner and their inherentresilience can be exploited so that they press in the manner shown inFIGS. 3 and 4 against the plate-like wall members 102 and 138respectively trapping the web of tickets 74 between the first wallmember 102 and the angled end 148 of the first plate 142 and trappingthe second web of tickets 98 between the second wall member 138 and theangled end 150 of the second plate 144. In the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and4 the plate members 142 and 144 are hinged together at 146 and acompression coil spring 152 serves to urge them into the clampingpositions shown.

[0078] It can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4 that the downstream portions(relative to the direction of conveying movement 107) of the first andsecond wall members 102 and 138 and the ends of the plates 142 and 144adjacent the conveyor roll 104 are arranged with the conveyor roll 104in a housing 154. The housing 154 is generally rectangular incross-section as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, with the lower wall of therectangular housing 154 being formed as a converging V-shaped channelfor guiding the tickets of the ticket webs 74 and 98 towards the bendingmechanism. Various cut-outs are provided in the walls of the rectangularhousing 154. First of all there are cut-outs 156 and 158 arrangedopposite to one another in the two sidewalls and these openings permitrespective solenoid plungers 160 and 162 to enter into the housing andengage with the wall members 102 and 138 respectively. By energising thesolenoids 164 and 166 associated with the respective plungers 160 and162, the plungers can be alternately operated so that, in theillustration of FIGS. 3 and 4, the plunger 160 presses the wall member102 towards the conveyor roll 104, while the plunger 162 is in itsretracted position and the wall member 138 lies against the inside ofthe right-hand wall of the housing 154. The retraction of the plunger isperformed by the wall members 102 and 138 activated by spring 152 andthe ends of the plates 142 and 144. Alternatively, the retraction of theplunger can, for example, take place by means of a separate spring (notshown) with the advance of the plunger, for example the plunger 160 inthe operative position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, taking place byenergisation of the solenoid. Alternatively, spring pressure can be usedto move the plungers into the operative position, for example as shownfor the plunger 160 in FIG. 4 and energisation of the respectivesolenoid can be used to retract the plunger to the inoperative position,for example as shown for the plunger 162 in FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0079] It can be seen from FIG. 4 that with the plunger 162 retracted,the leading ticket of the ticket web 98 abuts against the shoulder 163of the housing and is not in contact with the conveyor roll 104.Accordingly, in the position of FIGS. 3 and 4 only tickets of the web oftickets 74 are conveyed past the barcode reader 106 into the bendingmechanism 112. It will also be appreciated that when the operator comesto fit a new pack of tickets, such as 72, into the apparatus the leadingticket is simply pushed into the gap between the wall member 138 and theplate member 144 and downwardly until its leading end comes intoabutment with the shoulder 163 of the housing. If necessary, the plate144 can be pushed by the operator to the left in FIG. 4 to facilitatethe entry of the leading edge ticket into this position, with the spring152 thereby being slightly compressed. Clearly the loading of a new packof tickets such as 70 into the apparatus takes place in a correspondingmanner with the leading ticket butting against the shoulder 165.

[0080] The elements 171, 175, 177 and 179 are flag activated, magneticor optical sensors detecting the edge of an advancing ticket or thepresence of a ticket. Elements 171 and 177 detect the ticket edges ofthe web of tickets 74 and 98 just before these but against the shoulders163 and 165. Elements 175 and 179 detect the edge advancing downstreamof the shoulders 163 and 165.

[0081] The element 168 comprises a roller, which could be a drivenroller, but which is typically a free-running roller and which helps theoperator fitting a new pack of tickets to ease the leading ticket intothe gap between the plate member 144 and the wall member 130 and intothe passage between the wall member 130 and the conveyor roller 104until its leading edge abuts against the shoulder 163 of the housing.The description for the roller 168 also applies to the roller 169associated with the web of tickets 74.

[0082] In operation, once the web of tickets 74 has been used up, whichis recognised by the apparatus from the flag sensors 171, 175, 177 and179, the electronic control will cause the plunger 160 to be released sothat it moves to the left in FIG. 4 and will energise the solenoid 166,and cause the plunger 162 to also move to the left, so that the wallmeans 130 now presses the leading edge of the ticket against theconveyor roller 104. At the same time the motor driving the conveyorroll 104 is instructed to change its direction of rotation from thedirection of rotation 110 in FIG. 3 to the direction of rotation 170 inFIG. 4 so that it is now able to convey the ticket web 98, and inparticular the leading ticket, into the outlet mouth 173 of theconvergent outlet channel of the housing 154 and past the code reader106 which now reads the code present on the second web of tickets 98.Because the first roll of tickets 74 and the second roll of tickets 98are arranged facing one another in the housing the barcode is alwaysprinted on the side of the ticket facing the reader 106, so that only asingle reader is required, and indeed the reader 106 is able to view thetickets through the opening 172 provided in the wall of the housing.

[0083] In addition to the openings 156, 158 and 172 in the housing, andopenings for the flags 171, 175, 177 and 179, there are two furtheropenings 174 and 178 providing access for the webs of tickets 74 and 98and for the respectively associated portions of the first wall member102 and the plate 142 and of the second wall member 130 and the secondplate 144. In the preferred embodiment the motor used to drive therollers 104 is preferably an electronically controlled motor, such as astepping motor, the motors used to drive the rollers 126 and 116 are DCmotors controlled by end switches (as will later be described withreference to FIG. 6). They could, however, also be electronicallycontrolled motors, such as stepping motors. The roller 104 controlls theadvance of the web of tickets and overrides the soft driven roller 116.Roller 126 can be driven by a separate motor or with a belt from roller116. In either case the extent of rotational movement can be readilymatched to the length of ticket to be transported. The motors drivingthe rollers 104, 126 and 116 which are not shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 arethus connected to the electronic control.

[0084] The preferred bending procedure for weakening the connection ofthe leading ticket to the web of tickets will now be described. For thepurpose of this description it should first be assumed that the free endof the leading ticket is transported by roller 104 to sit preciselyadjacent the axis of rotation of the bending mechanism 120. This isachieved by the electronically controlled motor, such as a steppingmotor, and the starting position of the leading edge of the ticket whenpassing over the flag sensors 175 (179 for the second web). The ticketfrom the relevant ticket web, e.g. 74, is first transported forward byrotation of the conveyor roll 104, in the case of this example in thearrow direction 110 and subsequently by the transport roll 116 until theperforation joining the leading ticket to the remainder of the web ispositioned some millimetres outside of the bezel 180, i.e. the exit endof the outlet mouth 173. This extent of movement is determined by theelectronic control for the conveyor roll 104 and/or for the transportroll 116. Thereafter the bending mechanism 112 bends the ticket aboutthe axis 120 by a single, anticlockwise movement in the direction of thearrow 122. Thereafter the conveyor roll 104 is rotated in the oppositedirection (170 in FIG. 4) to pull the ticket web back until the bentedge, i.e. the bend at the line of perforations, stops at a bezel 180where, due to the stiffness of the ticket material, the web 74 cannot bepulled back further. The conveyor roll 104 is then reversed again andpositions the web forward until the bent edge is placed at the positionof a separator wheel 184. This sequence of return movement and repeatedforwarded movement allows a precise detection of the position of theperforation and synchronises the perforated edge, i.e. the leading edgeof each ticket so that it always comes to rest at the same position andis ready for the next ticket feeding operation.

[0085] The ticket handling operation is now continued in that thebending mechanism 112 is moved back, i.e. from the dotted line positionback to the solid line position in the opposite direction of the arrow122, which further Weakens the perforation. In order to actuallyseparate the leading ticket 108 from the web of tickets 74 at theperforation, the blunt separator wheel 184, which is mounted on atranslatable carriage 186 driven by a belt 188 is caused to move alongthe perforation while rotating about the axis 190 (as a result offriction of contact with the web of tickets) and in so doing breaks upthe perforation. The belt 188 is formed as an endless belt and is drivento and fro by a motor which rotates a drive wheel about the axis 192 inFIGS. 3 and 4 (motor not shown). The amplitude of the to and fromovement of the endless belt is sufficient to ensure that the bluntseparator wheel moves fully across the width of the web of tickets andthus separates the leading ticket from the web of tickets at theperforation. During this movement of the wheel, the web is clampedbetween the conveyor roll 104 and the wall means 102 and the leadingticket 108 is clamped between the transport roll 116 and the oppositelydisposed plate of the bending mechanism. Accordingly, t the pressureexerted by the separator wheel as it runs onto the web 74 from the sidepushes the web transverse to the conveying direction 114 thus stretchingit and breaking it at the weakened perforation. The use of a wheel tobreak a web of tickets is known per se, e.g. from U.S. Pat. Nos.4,982,337 and 5,836,498. Once the ticket has been separated, the bendingmechanism is rotated again in the direction of the arrow 122 in theanticlockwise direction to the dotted line position and the transportroll 116 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 124 to move the tickettowards the ejection roller 126 and into the gap between the ejectionroller 126 and the wall member 128, for subsequent issue through thedispensing slot 50. Thereafter, the bending mechanism 122 is returned inthe opposite direction to the arrow 122 to the solid line position andis ready to receive the next ticket.

[0086] While the description of FIGS. 3 and 4 has been made with respectto two packs of fanfold tickets which are issued through the mouth 50,it will be appreciated that other, adjacent, shafts containing packs offanfold tickets can be arranged in series, i.e. behind or in front ofthe ticket dispenser in the plane of the drawing shown in FIGS. 3 and 4,for example to issue tickets through the dispensing slot 52 in FIG. 2.One possibility is for the tickets to be issued through the slots 52 tobe lottery tickets which are purchased by the customer at the relevantpoint of sale, with the number of lottery tickets purchased by thecustomer being issued in sequence through the dispensing slot 52. Iflottery tickets are issued then one ticket is issued for each ticketpurchased, i.e. not just winning tickets. The lottery tickets will besupplied by a lottery company in the usual manner with the usualsecurity applied. The only difference with respect to normal lotterytickets is that the barcodes must be applied as described for thewinning tickets such as 74, so that they can be read by the bar codereader 106.

[0087] It is a particular advantage of the design shown here that anynumber of ticket dispensing slots can be provided alongside one another,with the ticket dispenser simply becoming wider, i.e. in the directionof the conveyor belt at the point of sale. It is particularly convenientthat the same conveyor roll can be used as a common conveyor roll forall ticket shafts or compartments, since the driving of a ticket in theone or other direction only takes place when the associated solenoidpresses the relevant wall means towards the conveyor roll trapping therelevant ticket web between the movable wall and the conveyor roll.Thus, it can be ensured that only the desired ticket from the desiredticket web is driven, simply by energising only the solenoid plungerassociated with the particular ticket web involved. Although theconveyor roll also runs at all other shafts the fact that the plungersthere are deenergised means that no ticket transport will take place.

[0088]FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a ticket dispenser 30 showing theelectronic blocks and symbolically the mechanism in one block labelled45. The embedded controller 35 drives the motors and solenoids andsenses the signals from the sensors of the ticket dispenser mechanism45. The operator control panel 36, which is only accessible when theback portion 62 (and/or front portion—not shown) ticket dispenser 30 isopened, holds the SIM chipcards for the ticket webs, and includesindication lights, a display and some keys to manoeuvre the display menuand prompt commands at the display, details of which will be explainedwith reference to FIG. 6. Power for the electronic and electromechanicalequipment is provided by power supply 38, a data network connectionmodule 39 links to 100/10 BaseT Ethernet 40, a wireless module 37, suchas one following the Bluetooth standard,) communicates via the aerial 38to a wireless access point of the site network as will be described inconnection with FIGS. 12 and 13. An optional electronic promotiondisplay 43, a player chipcard 46 with reader 47 and indicator lights 44are also connected to the embedded controller 35.

[0089] Turning now to FIG. 6 there can be seen a block circuit diagramof the electronic control for the ticket dispenser 30.

[0090] Reference number 35 designates the embedded controller which ispreferably composed of a embedded controller 35 with a Flash ROM 206 anda RAM 204 incorporated into the ticket dispenser. A peripheral expander202 increases the number of inputs, outputs and serial connections tosuit the peripheral requirements and the unit-SIM 208 chipcard containsthe identity of the controller 35 and serves as a secure access moduleSAM for the player card 46 and the ticket-SIM cards 210.

[0091] As shown already in FIG. 5 the embedded controller is connectedto a wireless module 37 with aerial 38, a data network connection module39, a power supply 38, the optional display 43, preferably a flat paneldisplay, for promotional and prize information and indicator lights 51,55, 57 which lightup to indicate e.g. a game of chance for a promotionalticket prize.

[0092] The operator control panel 36 can be used when an operator isservicing the apparatus to check if all items are functioning correctlyand to check if the dispenser 30 holds the ticket-SIM chipcards 210.,The ndication lights 216, one per dispensing position, serve to indicatea required refill and the proper position of a newly loaded ticketstrip. A small alphanumeric display 212 serves to display messages forthe operator and a few keys 214 will enable the operator to manoeuvrethe display menu and prompt commands at the display. The ticket-SIMchipcards 210 correspond to the ticket types in the dispensing positionsand store information relating to the ticket type identity and the gameparameters or algorithms for deciding whether or not a promotion ticketis issued after a purchase in a point of sales application, or when aticket is purchased for the ticket game, which will be described later.

[0093] The ticket-SIM microchip card is delivered with the games andalso carries information concerning the authentic numbers of ticketssupplied for the prize bonus game, the nominal value and authenticnumber range of lottery tickets provided for the playing of a lotterygame, and the game algorithm or it's identity necessary for the playingof the prize bonus game.

[0094] The reference numerals 220 and 222 represent the electronicdetectors, such as barcode readers, associated with the verticallyextending structure 44 of the ticket dispenser. If the front surface ofthe vertically extending structure of the ticket dispenser 44 is adaptedto receive transparent transparencies indicating a particular product orbrand being promoted, or promotion relating to the store itself, then itis preferred for the transparency to carry an identification of somekind, for example a wide barcode, which can always be positioned at thesame place on the transparency, so that it sits in front of awidebarcode reader 220 incorporated into the ticket dispenser 30,whereby the transparency can be identified. The signals of the codereaders are transferred to the embedded controller 35 via the peripheralexpander 202.

[0095] In the same way, if the vertically extending structure 44 of theticket dispenser 30 is adapted to receive different sculptures, hoods ormasks 280 in FIG. 15, then a wide-bar code will normally be positionedat a strategic location on the sculpture, hood or mask and will be readby a suitable barcode reader 222. It is possible to use the same barcodereader (220 or 222) for both transparencies and sculptures, thuseliminating one bar code reader and minimising the cost of the ticketdispenser. Various other items associated with the ticket dispenser areshown attached to the peripheral expander 202. For example the ticketdispenser 30 is preferably provided with an arrangement of LED lights 51which can be illuminated in any desired pattern or sequence undercontrol of the embedded controller 35 to highlight a transparency ormask, sculpture or hood mounted on the vertically extending structure 44of the ticket dispenser. In addition, the ticket dispenser is preferablyprovided with lights 53 which flash when a game is under way or when agame has been won. These lights 51 and 55 are again controlled from theembedded contoller 35. Moreover, the dispensing slots 50 and 52 arepreferably provided with special lighting, for example in the form of atransparent, back-lit bezel and the respective lights 57 are againcontrolled from the embedded contoller 35.

[0096] If the ticket dispenser 30 is configured as part of a gamingdevice as described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 14, then it isconveniently provided with a card slot 47 into which a player chipcard46 can be inserted. The player chipcard 46 would normally be a card ofthe preloaded type, i.e. one where the player can pay a certain amountof money into a machine which then electronically stores the amount ofmoney on his player chipcard. With this system the embedded controller35 then deducts a certain amount of the stored sum on the chipcard foreach game played. Once the player has inserted his player chipcard heactivates a handle 224, or an other means, such as a button, in order toinitiate one game or, especially with the type of handle of FIG. 14, asequence of games. Instead of a card slot 47 the ticket dispenser can beloaded with monetary value from remote as described with reference toFIG. 13 and/or fitted with a coin or token receiving system so that itcan be played by inserting coins or tokens rather than a playerchipcard.

[0097] Once a game is underway, either because the unit is configured asa gaming machine and someone is playing it, or because it is installedat the point of sale and a game has been triggered via the point ofsales terminal, then various sound effects and lighting effects can betriggered by the embedded controller 35 as indicated by the referencenumerals 209 for sound and 44 for light.

[0098] The embedded controller 35 controls the motor 226 which drivesthe conveyor roll 104. It also controls the motor 230 which drives thebending mechanism 112 to move in the direction of the arrow 122. Inorder to be able to conveniently reverse the direction of rotation,sensors are provided in the ticket dispenser which sense the endpositions of the bending movement, i.e. the solid line position and thedotted line position in FIGS. 3 and 4. These end sensors are identifiedin FIG. 6 by the reference numerals 232 and 234 and can for example beformed as microswitches or as inductive proximity sensors. Referencenumeral 240 identifies the motor which drives the separating wheel 184to move to and fro across the ticket web to separate it at theperforation. The reversal of this motor is again triggered by endsensors, identified here with the reference numerals 242 and 244 which,as in the case of the sensors 232, 234 for the motor 230 for the bendingmechanism, can be formed as microswitches or proximity sensors.

[0099] Reference numeral 250 identifies the motor which drives theticket ejection roller 116 and, via a belt arrangement, the roller 126.No end stop is necessary here because when ejecting tickets the roller116 on the bender 112 and the ticket ejection roller 126 just runsufficiently long to completely eject the ticket. The sensor 252 is tocheck if the motor 250 is jammed.

[0100] Reference numeral 228 indicates a sensor by which the embeddedcontroller 35 checks if the ticket dispenser 30 is locked, i.e. if thehousing 44 is closed and locked.

[0101] The reference numerals 164 and 166 designate here, as in FIGS. 3and 4, the solenoids which are used to determine which of the ticketwebs is pressed into engagement with the conveyor roll 104. The sensors171, 175, 177 and 179 are the flag sensors for the edge and the presenceof the ticket webs. Again, the sensors can be formed as proximitysensors. Reference numeral 106 designates the barcode reader previouslydescribed with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0102] Finally, the reference numeral 254 designate sensors which enablea check to be made whether the store keeper or operator has correctlyclosed the back portion 62 (and/or front portion) of the housing 44,which can only be taken into use once it has been loaded and the housingclosed.

[0103] Turning now to FIG. 12 there can now be seen the generalelectronic lay-out for four ticket dispensers 30A, 30B, 30C and 30Dprovided at the four point of sale terminals illustrated by theirrespective cash tills 12A, 12B, 12C and 12D. The computer present ineach cash till 12A-12D is connected via a respective data network 260A,260B, 260C, 260D to a switch/router 262 which is connected to a hostcomputer (not shown) via a further data network link 264 of a wide areanetwork. Attached to the switch/router are the radio access points 270and 272 whereby radio access point 270 also operates as server whichaccesses the data transferred from the cash tills to the switch/routerin accordance with a program stored in the server and related to thepromotional activity which is taking place. Thus, by way of example, ifa particular product is being promoted, then the server 270 caninterrogate the signals transferred to the switch/router via the datanetworks 260A-260D to see whenever the barcode relating to the productbeing promoted appears. It can then trigger the relevant ticketdispenser 30A-30D to initiate the advertising associated with theproduct and to issue a ticket.

[0104] In order to avoid unnecessary wiring the communication from theserver 270 to the respective ticket dispenser 30A-30D takes place via acorresponding short range radio link. For this purpose two such shortrange radio links between the radio access points 270 and 272 and theticket dispensers 30A-30D are provided in the FIG. 12 embodiment, eachradio link communicates with two adjacently disposed ticket dispensers30A and 30B and 30C and 30D respectively. Each pair of associated ticketdispensers, such as 30A and 30B is arranged at two adjacent points ofsale 10. By coding the transmissions it is possible for the server 270to ensure that the signals transmitted by the respective radio link 270,272 are transmitted to the unique ticket dispenser for which thecommunication is intended.

[0105] The radio access points 270 and 272 are connected via respectivedata networks 266 and 268 to the switch/router 202. In addition to theradio links transmitting information to the ticket dispensers 30A-30D,the ticket dispensers have an electronic computer therein, an embeddedcontroller (35 FIG. 5), which is able to transmit messages back by theradio modules (37 FIG. 5) via the radio links to the radio access points270 and 272 respectively, so that a two-way communication is possible tothe ticket dispensers 30A and 30D and from the ticket dispensers to theserver 270.

[0106] In this way the ticket dispensers 30A-30D can communicate to theserver 270 information such as the presence of a correct or incorrectpack of tickets, the issue of a winning ticket, validity data relatingto each ticket of the pack of tickets, identified by its barcode via thebarcode reader 106, the running out of one of the two packs provided foreach dispensing unit and, if provided, information on the presence ofthe correct advertising transparency, mask, sculpture or hood present onthe ticket dispenser. Information can also be transmitted confirming theoperational status of all motors and drives in the ticket dispensers.This information is stored in memory provided typically in the server270 and externally accessible either via the wide area network or via aradio modem associated with the server 270. This accessing of the datadownloaded from the ticket dispensers 30A-30D can take placeautomatically and regularly from a company entrusted with controllingthe advertising and/or servicing of the ticket dispensers.

[0107] If multi-media displays are used in addition to the advertisingat the ticket dispensers then these can be connected to the wide areanetwork and accessed via the server 270 whenever a particular piece ofpromotion has to be run on one or more of the multi-media units.

[0108] The ticket dispensers 30A-30D contain within their housing theticket-SIM chipcards 210 which correspond to the ticket types in thedispensing positions. Each chip has stored on it all the informationrelevant to the game of chance being played and the identity of thepacks of tickets which can be used within the dispenser. Since thischip, which resembles a telephone card microchip, such as is used in ahandy, is either supplied with every pack of tickets or at least withevery pack of a new type of tickets it is always up to date. Shouldsomeone try to use a new pack of tickets with an old chipcard, or viceversa, then the identity verification will show that there is a faultand tell the operator what he has to do to remedy the fault.

[0109] If the ticket dispensers 30A and 30D are for example laid out toissue lottery tickets in addition to the winning tickets associated withthe game of chance connected to the promotional activity, then thecustomer at the point of sale has to purchase the lottery ticket byplacing a teaser on the transport belt 16. This purchase results in aninput to the system, either via a barcode scanner scanning the teasermeant to initiate the sale of a lottery ticket, or by the cashierpressing the appropriate lottery sale button. The information isextracted from the relevant cash till via the switch/router 262 by theserver 270 and used to trigger the ticket dispenser to issue therelevant lottery ticket.

[0110]FIG. 13 shows a situation similar to that of FIG. 12 but nowshowing four ticket dispensers 30E, 30F, 30G and 30H configured asgaming machines and installed for example in a bar or saloon. The ticketdispensing units 30E-30H shown in this case are much lower in cost thanthe usual gaming machine and because of that it can be played with lowstakes economically. Each ticket dispensing unit is also much smallerthan a conventional gaming machine so that it can be placed on countersand tables, for example disguised as a beer tap as schematically shownin FIG. 14. In order to play the machine, the patron of the bar orsaloon can for example purchase a number of goes at a cash till 12Epresent in the bar or saloon. The communication between such a cash tilland the relevant ticket dispenser 30E-30H takes place in the FIG. 13embodiment in much the same way as in the FIG. 12 embodiment. In thiscase, however, there is just a single data network 260A to aswitch/router 262A. A server 270A is again connected to theswitch/router via a respective data network and two further datanetworks 266A and 268A to two short range radio links between the radioaccess points 270A and 272A and the ticket dispensers 30E-30H areprovided. Again there is a connection to the host computer (not shown)by a telephone dial up link 272 or by radio from a GSM module in server270A respectively.

[0111] Instead of the patron having to buy his gaming authorisation viathe point of sale 12E, the ticket dispenser 30E-30H could also beequipped with a coin slot or a slot for receiving a reloadable chipcardwhich can be loaded up to a certain monetary sum for the player to useat the gaming machine (see also FIG. 6).

[0112] In this case the ticket dispensers contain in their embeddedcontroller 35 a gaming program which can, for example, take thefollowing simple form.

[0113] First of all the program contains a table in which a number ofwinning numbers is stored, a so-called win table. This can, for example,simply be the numbers 1 to 100. Also contained in the embeddedcontroller 135 or preferably in the ticket SIM chipcard 210 is a programwhich operates as a random number generator. Each time the gaming unitis activated, for example by a simple trigger input by the user pressinga button (assuming the user has paid money into the unit to start thegame) the random number generating program will generate a random numberwithin a certain range, say 1 to 500. Whenever the number generated bythe random number generator is equal to one of the winning numbers, thegame has been won and the ticket dispenser is activated to issue awinning ticket to the player. The magnitude of the win is recorded onthe winning ticket. Thus a pack of winning tickets can be provided, forexample in a random or pseudo-random manner, with a variety of wins andthe order in which the tickets are issued determines which win theplayer receives next.

[0114] The flow diagrams of FIG. 7-FIG. 11 show the different operationmodes of the ticket dispenser.

[0115]FIG. 7 shows the flow diagram of a purchase of a lottery ticketagainst payment at the point of sales terminal.

[0116]FIG. 8 shows flow diagram of the principal of the ticket dispenserholding only win tickets and at which the game of chance is performed bya computer.

[0117]FIG. 9 is the flow diagram of a point of sales prize promotion ina retail store.

[0118]FIG. 10 is the flow diagram of a e-commerce prize promotion.

[0119]FIG. 10 is the flow diagram of a ticket dispenser configured as agaming device.

[0120]FIG. 14 shows a ticket dispenser 30E configured as a gamingmachine and simultaneously as an advertisement for beer. It resembles abeer tap as used in traditional public houses (bars) in England and hasa handle 224 resembling the handle used by a barman to pull a pint ofbeer. The handle has a pivot joint 276 resembling that of theconventional beer tap but operated here by a player and a top disk 278to be used for advertisment. Operation of the handle, which could takeplace towards the player rather than towards the barman—as is the casewith a conventional tap—can be used to trigger each game. 44 indicatesthe shaft holding the ticket packets and providing advertising surfaces,47 represents the player card slot as in FIG. 5.

[0121]FIG. 15 shows a ticket dispenser 30A carrying a sculpture 280 witha cooks hat 282, which could also be a hood or mask, and is designed toadvertise sauce products from the Chef company. The sculpture is placedover the vertically extending structure 44 of the ticket dispenser. Toadd effect the cooks hat 282 could, for example, nod in accordance withthe arrow 284 or turn as indicated by arrow 286.

[0122] The operation of the apparatus in various modes andconfigurations will now be summarised for the sake of completeness.

[0123] As mentioned above, the ticket dispenser units can basically berealised in at least three versions which can, if desired, be combinedinto one apparatus.

[0124] In a first version the ticket dispenser is used for thedispensing of scratch lottery tickets in the point of sale area afterthese tickets have been registered at the point of sale terminal, eitherby passing a teaser along the scanner or registering the ticket purchasedirectly into the point of sale terminal.

[0125] In a second version the ticket dispenser can be used, in additionto dispensing scratch tickets, for the functions of promotion by displayand sculpture based advertising, prize-and-bonus-competitions withprizes and bonus scratch tickets dispensed/spit-out on the spot,triggered by specific or any purchase, winning chance flat orpurchase/time dependent, optional wide area progressive jackpot prizeswith real time progressive jackpot value indication, notebook styleadvertising display networked with chain wide real-time updates, happyhours with fixed time schedules and/or spontaneous promotion timespans.

[0126] In a third version the ticket dispenser is used as a gamingdevice/machine in which games are played like on any other gamingmachine by providing (monetary) value to the device and activating thegame(s). A game consists of a first phase in which the ticket dispenserdetermines if this game will be won or lost. In the case of a loss this(first) phase is already the game, in the case of a win the ticketdispenser enters a second phase where it issues a winning ticket in theform of a scratch ticket coupon (normally one but, if desired, several).Ticket packs are made up only of win ticket coupons onto which the fullsecurity of a scratch lottery ticket is applied. The ticket dispensingfunction:

[0127] Ticket Storage

[0128] Storage of two ticket packs 70, 72 per dispensing slot 50, 52 andfrom one to several dispensing slots per unit.

[0129] Automatic switching to reserve pack 72 when first pack 70 ends

[0130] Indication of pack empty—LED on ticket dispenser and per Ethernet

[0131] Ticket Transport

[0132] Pre dispensing slot transport by one rubber shaft 104 and onesolenoid 164, 166 per ticket strip 74, 98. Normally two ticket strips(packets) per shelf. To transport a ticket the appropriate solenoid 164,166 for that ticket web 74, 96 is activated and the rubber shaft 104rotates in the appropriate direction 110, 170 and transports the ticketthrough the mouth 173 of an internal feed channel of the ticketdispenser.

[0133] Ticket Web Loading

[0134] Manual filling of ticket packs 70, 72 until stop 163, 165.Optical OK Indication by indicators 216.

[0135] A first light barrier or other sensor 171, 177 can be used todetect ticket web is loaded and that first ticket is pushed until stop163, 165 and a second light barrier sensor 175, 179 can be used todetect pushing the leading ticket beyond the stop.

[0136] Separating Tickets

[0137] The ticket strip 74, 98 is transported forward by the main shaft104 until the leading ticket edge reaches the bender 112, is thentransported by the main shaft 104 and the ticket bender shaft 116 untilthe perforation is positioned some mm outside the mouth 173.

[0138] Then the ticket bender 112 turns the ticket to be separated by±90° thus bending the ticket web along perforation line by ±90°. Theprimary shaft 104 and the solenoid 164, 166 for this web then pull theticket web 74, 98 back until the bent edge stops at the mouth 173 where,due to the stiffness of the ticket material, the web cannot be pulledback further. The transport then positions the web 74, 98 forward untilthe bent edge is placed at the position of the separator wheel. Thissequence allows a precise detection of the perforation and synchronisesthe perforation edge with each ticket 108, 108′ spent.

[0139] The ±90° bend weakens the perforation. Then the ticket bender 112turns the ticket to be separated back to ±starting position thus furtherweakening the perforation.

[0140] A blunt separator wheel 184 on a sledge 186 driven by a belt 188slides along the perforation and breaks up the perforation.

[0141] Dispensing tickets into the pickup tray

[0142] The separated ticket 108, 108′ is then dispensed into the pickuptray by the bending shaft 116. Prior to dispensing the ticket 108, 108′into the tray the bender 112 and shaft 116 is turned into the rightposition.

[0143] Last Ticket of a Strip

[0144] The light barrier sensors 175, 179 can detect the last ticket asits trailing edge passes through. The dispensing mechanism pulls theticket until the trailing edge is well outside the mouth 173 (reserve)and then issues the ticket 108, 108′ into the tray by turning the bender112 and shaft 116 in the right (dotted line) position.

[0145] Ticket Dispensing

[0146] Fanfold tickets are used.

[0147] Two ticket packs 70, 72 per ticket dispensing position, one packfor dispensing, one pack as reserve or empty waiting for a refill tomake a once per period, such as a day, refill operation possible for alarger installation. All ticket webs 74, 98 of one unit are separatedalong the perforation by a single separator mechanism.

[0148] The tickets from either of the two packets are output by the samemechanism, from the same mouth 173, into the same grip tray 112, usingthe same space for folding up of the two webs.

[0149] Ticket separation and dispensing by one mechanism.

[0150] Shared rubber shafts 104 for the webs 74, 98 of both packs,transport of single web 74 or 98 selected by two solenoids 164, 166.

[0151] Ticket loading and holding of web-ends by spring loaded lever142, 144.

[0152] Sensors for the leading and trailing edges of both webs withinthe output mechanism.

[0153] Spending all tickets from the first to the last.

[0154] Seamless switch over from last ticket of one web to the firstticket of the other web.

[0155] Sensor for jammed tickets in the mouth 173.

[0156] Cut Single Tickets

[0157] Alternatively to fanfold ticket packs cut single ticket packs maybe used. In this case two or more ticket stacks per ticket dispensingposition allow to share the dispensing mechanism and electronics forseveral packs of tickets. Arranging the ticket packets in form of acarousel.

[0158] Seamless switch over from last ticket of one stack to the firstticket of the other stack into the same grip tray.

[0159] Prize/Bonus Ticket Games

[0160] A prize/bonus game consists of a first phase in which the unitdetermines if this game will be a won or a lost game. In the case of aloss this (first) phase is already the game, in the case of a win theunit enters into the second phase where it dispenses a (normally one butas well several) win scratch ticket coupon. Prize ticket packs 70, 72are made up only of winning ticket coupons onto which the full securityof the scratch lottery ticket system is applied (see security).

[0161] The winning decision is controlled by a secure game algorithmsstored in a chipcard, or at least the decisive parameters are stored ina chipcard. For a won game the unit will issue a win ticket, for a lostgame no ticket is issued, only some light effects are visible on theunit similar to those on a slot machine. The non-win tickets of theclassical scratch ticket lottery are gone.

[0162] Indicating the winning—loosing decision phase by optical and/oracoustic effects on any part of the ticket dispenser unit such asdisplay, headphone, other. A distant, larger, optical-acoustical signcan also show the game outcome.

[0163] Thus the present invention provides a gaming unit on which a gameis divided into

[0164] a) a winning—loosing decision phase in which a won or lost gameis determined

[0165] b) a win issuing phase where the prize/bonus or Win is issued inthe form of a win/prize ticket or coupon preferably in the form of ascratch ticket.

[0166] Tickets are stored within the gaming unit.

[0167] Security

[0168] Ticket verification and authentication

[0169] Ticket Type Verification

[0170] The tickets have on their rear side (alternatively front side) abarcode so that it can be read while transporting the ticket web 74, 98past the reader 106. The second ticket web of the shelf (if existing) ispulled back by the rubber shaft 104 and an activated solenoid 164, 166until the loading stop to free the mouth 172 for the new web to bechecked.

[0171] To verify the new ticket pack the web 98, 74 is transportedforward by one ticket, the barcode is read and the ticket pulled back tothe loading stop. The barcode is checked against the smart card for thatshelf (or pack) inside the smart card.

[0172] Ticket Pack Authentication

[0173] Lottery ticket packs must be authenticated with the lotteryorganisation or for promotional tickets with the promotion or ticketdispenser operating organisation before the first ticket is sold to acustomer. This is normally done by reading the barcode of the ticketpack as described above with the reader 106 and forward the ticket codevia the network to the lottery computer or the computer of the ticketdispenser operating organisation where the number series of the ticketsof this pack is then made valid. The unit with the system mightoptionally check if the ticket numbers read are from a validated pack.

[0174] Counting of Tickets

[0175] To insure the pack is complete.

[0176] Verifying Ticket Numbers

[0177] Tickets within a pack are sequentially numbered. The unit mightread the numbers and ensure that all tickets from one pack aresequentially numbered to ensure that no ticket is missing or that twowebs are not glued together.

[0178] Ticket barcode validation of ticket webs by the unique number ofeach ticket of the web is done against the number range stored in thechipcard and by algorithms preferably also executed within the chipcard.One chipcard is provided per pair of webs for one dispensing position inthe unit.

[0179] Authentication of newly loaded ticket packs with the lotterycomputer,

[0180] validating and dispensing of tickets only after successfulsession with lottery computer without a separate step of an externalvalidation procedure,

[0181] after loading of a new ticket web,

[0182] for every ticket issued,

[0183] counting and sequence checking of tickets within a pack,

[0184] reading the unique ticket number of every ticket dispensed, and

[0185] verifying the sequence of tickets by their incrementing numbers,

[0186] counting the number of tickets of a pack and verifying againstthe figure within the chipcard.

[0187] The ticket dispenser combines several or all of the followingfunctions:

[0188] Prize/Bonus Competitions

[0189] Whenever a predefined purchase is captured at the point of saleterminal Ticket dispenser will perform a prize/bonus competition in theform of a Prize/Bonus Ticket Game (PBTG) as described.

[0190] Promotions and predefined purchases can be:

[0191] Store or chain of stores promotion. Basically any article andvalue may trigger a PBTG.

[0192] Brands and or articles promotion. Predefined brands and orarticles will trigger a PBTG.

[0193] Happy hours promotion. Special happy hours promotions may only beactive during promotional times or a standard promotion will be given ahigher win chance during promotional times.

[0194] Ad hoc promotions activating the above promotions at random timeperiods or these ad hoc promotions can be remotely triggered by thesystem network.

[0195] Loyalty promotion. An identified VIP—by loyalty card—will triggeror influence the winning chance of a PBTG.

[0196] Attributes to influence the winning chance of a promotion besideshappy hours and VIP can be the purchase value.

[0197] The Advertising Media

[0198] The advertising media is the ticket dispenser housing designitself, a built in display and sculptures put on or over the housing.

[0199] The unit holds or has put over itself one or several displays,sculptures and attention attractors of the following types:

[0200] A printed back-lighted display whereby the transparency holdingthe advertisement has to be easily exchangeable. This form is similar tothe top glass of a gaming machine.

[0201] A smaller electronic display used e.g. to show jackpot-values ofa PBTG.

[0202] An electronic display like the TFT or similar notebook screenswith a larger display area.

[0203] A sculpture put over the housing or at least parts of the housingto totally or partly change the appearance of the unit within shortintervals.

[0204] Light effects on the display and or sculpture and or housing.

[0205] Acoustic effects.

[0206] Scratch Lottery Ticket (SLT) Vending

[0207] One or several ticket web positions can hold SLT webs. Thevending starts with the customer placing a teaser on the conveyor beltwhich is scanned in by the cashier, or by the cashier entering theticket purchase into the point of sale terminal.

[0208] Upon completion of the point of sale transaction with thatcustomer the unit is triggered by the point of sale terminal to issuethe tickets as registered. The tickets issued are separated, singletickets dispensed into the grip tray of the unit and can be grabbed bythe customer.

[0209] Gaming Unit

[0210] The unit in this case is a gaming machine performing primarilyPBTGs.

[0211] The unit is much lower in cost than a usual gaming machine andbecause of that it can be played with low wages economically.

[0212] The unit is much smaller than a gaming machine so that it can beplaced on counters and tables.

[0213] The unit can be an excellent promotion medium which can appear inthe most different shapes by creating various housings following theSwatch concept.

[0214] The gaming unit performs the PTGs when sufficient monetary valueis loaded to the unit and a trigger is activated. A prize or win isissued in form of a prize ticket.

[0215] Loading monetary values to the gaming unit is done by a chipcardholding the funds or by electronic funds transfer (EFT) from a remotestation triggered by the attendant. The chipcard itself is loaded on aseparate chipcard loading station.

[0216] The top prizes can be made progressive in all the variations ofjackpots of gaming machines.

[0217] The chipcard may be used as loyalty cards holding the playersidentification and possibly his loyalty values.

[0218] The Advertising Media

[0219] Because of the size and placement possibilities of the gaming ata bar counter/table the housing of the gaming unit is an excellentadvertisement medium. The advertising medium is similar as described forthe ticket dispenser, the form of the ticket dispenser could be shapedin similar style and variety as the tap levers in England and elsewhere.

[0220] The ticket dispenser installation potential is about 20% to 40%of the installed point of sale terminals in all kinds of retail stores.In order to be able to cope with the logistic and service of such a hugepopulation the ticket dispenser's are planned to be connected to theInternet, with a host system interrogating the ticket dispensers andservice people having access to the ticket dispensers via the host byInternet and cellular phones with the wireless application protocol(WAP).

[0221] To achieve the Internet connectivity without special firmware,each ticket dispenser will be fitted with a one-chip-PC expedientlyrunning under embedded Linux. The ticket dispenser communicates with aradio link to the site network on which a ticket dispenser serverexists. The ticket dispenser server is the very same one-chip-PC used asticket dispenser controller. The ticket dispenser server can eithercommunicate over the chain wide data network or contains a GSM radiomodule by which the server communicates with the host from whereInternet is accessed actively and passively.

[0222] Ticket dispensers are fitted with advertisements in form oftransparencies or complete hoods. These promotion materials areoptically encoded to be able to trace the timely placement of promotionsvia the net. An additional ticket dispenser feature will be activematrix or similar displays interactively reacting to the promotion andpurchase of the customer. The displays can also be used for wide areaprogressive promotions. All multi-media handling is standard Internetstandard software such as shockwave.

[0223] Host Software

[0224] The ticket dispenser system will require some host software. Mostof it is standard company operational software with various add ons.Here are the draft headlines of the host database and functions:

[0225] Promotion Customers

[0226] contractual agreements with promotion customers

[0227] ticket dispenser installed at stores per chain of stores

[0228] contractual agreements with chain of stores

[0229] ticket dispensers at service

[0230] ticket dispensers on stock at service people and HO

[0231] Logistic of Material to Sites

[0232] ticket packs

[0233] advertising transparencies & hoods

[0234] stock control at ho? and service points

[0235] shipment proposal and execution

[0236] Accounting

[0237] promotions customers

[0238] clients where ticket dispensers are placed

[0239] prize promotions and advertisement campaigns

[0240] Real Time Status and Journal

[0241] ticket dispensers status and history journal

[0242] Maintenance and Service Scheduling

[0243] proposal by host

[0244] modification by service dispatcher

[0245] Help Desk

[0246] to contact clients to help with the check on any ticketdispensers

[0247] requiring ticket refills

[0248] with wrong promotion transparencies or hoods

[0249] not responding or out of service

[0250] to contact clients to help with stock problems

[0251] Scheduler

[0252] Internet check of ticket dispensers

[0253] promotions

[0254] lottery games

[0255] Internet Client

[0256] actively connect to ticket dispensers

[0257] accept mails from ticket dispensers

[0258] authenticate ticket packs

[0259] So far as e-commerce is concerned the present invention providesa method of promoting Internet shopping comprising the steps of:

[0260] presenting a customer making a purchase via the Internet ofeither a service or a product with the opportunity to participate in agame of chance, either as a result of the purchase or at an additionalcharge,

[0261] conducting a game of chance,

[0262] advising the customer whether he has won or lost and, in theevent of a win,

[0263] transferring the win to the customer.

[0264] The step of transferring the win to the customer can comprise oneof the following:

[0265] reducing the charge for a purchase he has made,

[0266] physically sending the customer a prize,

[0267] operating a printer provided by the customer to print a voucherpermitting redemption of a prize,

[0268] providing an account for the customer with an entry permitting arebate against a future purchase.

[0269] The method also includes the further step of displaying theoperation of a ticket dispenser of the kind previously described. Thestep of displaying the operation of a ticket dispenser expedientlycomprises the provision on a screen of the purchaser of a representationof a ticket dispenser used at a point of sale.

[0270] Moreover, the method can include the step of displaying on apurchaser's screen the issue of a winning ticket from a ticket dispenserused at an actual point of sale. This can for example involve the stepof displaying on a customer's screen a winning ticket capable of beingstored or printed by the customer.

[0271] The ticket is preferably a covered ticket and the customer isgiven the possibility of uncovering the ticket. For example the winningticket can resemble a scratch ticket and the customer can be providedwith an electronic scraper, e.g. a mouse operated scraper, forscratching said ticket.

1. A method of promoting a product or a brand in a retail storecomprising the steps of analysing data determined at a point of salerelating to purchases by a customer, e.g. data from a bar-code scanner,to determine whether a customer has purchased a particular product orbrand or has purchased products equalling or exceeding a predeterminedvalue and, if this is the case, entitling the customer to participate ina prize/bonus ticket game configured as a game of chance, conducting agame of chance based on a predetermined win table having a specifiednumber of predetermined winning numbers each associated with a bonus orprize and a further number of no win stops, i.e. numbers which are notwinning numbers, and in the case of a win, issuing to the customer aticket which is a winning ticket associated with the product or productrange.
 2. A method in accordance with claim 1, and comprising thefurther step of operating or emphasizing at least one display oradvertisement associated with the product or brand when a winning ticketis issued.
 3. A method in accordance with claim 1, and comprising thefurther step of operating or emphasizing at least one display oradvertisement associated with the product or brand each time or at leastsometimes when a particular product or brand is purchased and aprize/bonus ticket game is played.
 4. A method in accordance with claim1, wherein, when a winning ticket is associated with a small win, thewin is issued by the retail store.
 5. A method in accordance with claim1, wherein, when a winning ticket is associated with a high win, thecustomer sends the ticket to a company responsible for issuing of thewin.
 6. A method in accordance with claim 5, wherein the said companycompares an identifying code applied to the winning ticket to ensure itis a valid winning ticket.
 7. A method in accordance with claim 1 andcomprising the further step of changing the number of no win stops, i.e.the number of non-winning numbers, in a particular time interval, tochange the chances of winning the game of chance in order to realisehigher or lower promotional activity during that time interval.
 8. Amethod in accordance with claim 1 and comprising the further step ofchanging the number of no win stops, i.e. the number of non-winningnumbers in dependence on a preset factor, such as a recognition ofcustomer loyalty, e.g. via recognition of a customer loyalty card issuedto a customer, to influence the chances of winning the game of chance.9. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the win table comprisesa table containing a range of winning numbers and the playing of thegame of chance comprises the step of initiating a random numbergenerator to generate a number within the range of numbers including atleast some of said winning numbers and comparing the number generatedwith the table of numbers to see whether it is a winning number or anon-winning number.
 10. A method in accordance with claim 9 andcomprising the step of changing at least one of the range of numberswhich the random number generator can generate and the number of winningnumbers to increase the number of non-winning numbers relative to thenumber of winning numbers whereby to influence the chances of a win. 11.A method in accordance with claim 10, wherein the step of influencingthe chances of a win is effected or initiated by one of: a member ofstaff of the retail store, a member of staff of the management of achain of retail stores, a member of staff of an administrative companymanaging promotion for the store or chain of stores, optionally viaremote access via a computer network, automatically in response torecognition of some controlling factor, e.g. recognition of a customerloyalty card or recognition of a high purchase, or as a function of dateand/or time of day.
 12. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein thegame of chance is stored in a chipcard associated with the winningtickets and containing a list of the winning tickets of a pack ofwinning tickets and comprising the further step of checking for eachpack of winning tickets that a code printed on each ticket correspondsto a code stored in the chipcard, whereby to validate the pack oftickets and/or each individual ticket.
 13. A method in accordance withclaim 12 and comprising the step of accessing the chipcard and/or acontroller in the ticket dispenser from a location remote from theticket dispenser to check whether the chipcard and/or the controllerand/or the associated ticket dispenser is operating correctly.
 14. Amethod in accordance with claim 12 and comprising the step of disablingthe ticket dispenser and alarming a member of staff of the store or ofthe controlling company if there is a malfunction or if incorrecttickets are installed.
 15. A method in accordance with claim 13, whereinthe controller includes an interface to the ticket dispenser andassociated advertising and comprising the further step of accessing thecontroller from a location remote from the ticket dispenser to checkwhether the correct advertising is installed for the current promotion.16. A method in accordance with claim 13 and comprising the step ofaccessing the controller from a location remote from the ticketdispenser to adjust the chances of winning the game of chance.
 17. Amethod of promoting customer loyalty to a retail store or chain ofstores comprising the steps of analysing data determined at a point ofsale relating to purchases by a customer, e.g. data from a barcodescanner, to determine whether the customer has purchased a predeterminedarticle or an article having a predetermined value or articles having atotal value equal to or exceeding a predetermined value and, if this isthe case, entitling the customer to participate in a prize/bonus ticketgame configured as a game of chance, conducting a game of chance basedon a predetermined win table having a specified number of predeterminedwinning numbers each associated with a bonus or prize and a furthernumber of no win stops, i.e. numbers which are not winning numbers and,in the case of a win, issuing to the customer a ticket which is awinning ticket entitling the customer to a bonus or prize.
 18. A methodin accordance with claim 17, and comprising the further step ofoperating or emphasizing at least one display or advertisementassociated with the product or brand when a winning ticket is issued.19. A method in accordance with claim 17, and comprising the furtherstep of operating or emphasizing at least one display or advertisementassociated with the product or brand each time or at least sometimeswhen a particular product or brand is purchased and a prize/bonus ticketgame is played.
 20. A method in accordance with claim 17, wherein, whena winning ticket is associated with a small win, the win is issued bythe retail store.
 21. A method in accordance with claim 17, wherein,when a winning ticket is associated with a high win, the customer sendsthe ticket to a company responsible for issuing of the win.
 22. A methodin accordance with claim 21, wherein the said company compares anidentifying code applied to the winning ticket to ensure it is a validwinning ticket.
 23. A method in accordance with claim 17 and comprisingthe further step of changing the number of no win stops, i.e. the numberof non-winning numbers, in a particular time interval, to change thechances of winning the game of chance in order to realise higher orlower promotional activity during that time interval.
 24. A method inaccordance with claim 17 and comprising the further step of changing thenumber of no win stops, i.e. the number of non-winning numbers independence on a preset factor, such as a recognition of customerloyalty, e.g. via recognition of a customer loyalty card issued to acustomer, to influence the chances of winning the game of chance.
 25. Amethod in accordance with claim 17, wherein the win table comprises atable containing a range of winning numbers and the playing of the gameof chance comprises the step of initiating a random number generator togenerate a number within the range of numbers including at least some ofsaid winning numbers and comparing the number generated with the tableof numbers to see whether it is a winning number or a non-winningnumber.
 26. A method in accordance with claim 25 and comprising the stepof changing at least one of the range of numbers which the random numbergenerator can generate and the number of winning numbers to increase thenumber of non-winning numbers relative to the number of winning numberswhereby to influence the chances of a win.
 27. A method in accordancewith claim 26, wherein the step of influencing the chances of a win iseffected or initiated by one of: a member of staff of the retail store,a member of staff of the management of a chain of retail stores, amember of staff of an administrative company managing promotion for thestore or chain of stores, optionally via remote access via a computernetwork, automatically in response to recognition of some controllingfactor, e.g. recognition of a customer loyalty card or recognition of ahigh purchase, or as a function of date or time of purchase.
 28. Amethod in accordance with claim 17, wherein the game of chance is storedin a chipcard associated with the winning tickets and containing a listof the winning tickets of a pack of winning tickets and comprising thefurther step of checking for each pack of winning tickets that a codeprinted on each ticket corresponds to a code stored in the chipcard,whereby to validate the pack of tickets and/or each individual ticket.29. A method in accordance with claim 28 and comprising the step ofaccessing the chipcard and/or a controller in the ticket dispenser froma location remote from the ticket dispenser to check whether thechipcard and/or the controller and/or the associated ticket dispenser isoperating correctly.
 30. A method in accordance with claim 28 andcomprising the step of disabling the ticket dispenser and alarming amember of staff of the store or of the controlling company if there is amalfunction or if incorrect tickets are installed.
 31. A method inaccordance with claim 29, wherein the controller includes an interfaceto the ticket dispenser and associated advertising and comprising thefurther step of accessing the controller from a location remote from theticket dispenser to check whether the correct advertising is installedfor the current promotion.
 32. A method in accordance with claim 29 andcomprising the step of accessing the controller from a location remotefrom the ticket dispenser to adjust the chances of winning the game ofchance.
 33. A ticket dispenser, for example for use in connection with agame of chance, comprising a housing, a space within said housing forreceiving a pack of tickets in any form, e.g. in fanfold form or in rollform, a dispensing mechanism for dispensing single tickets taken fromsaid pack of tickets, an electronic control associated with thedispenser comprising stored information relating to said game of chance,a ticket reader for reading identification information stored on saidtickets, means for comparing said information with identifyinginformation stored in said electronic control to check whether the packof tickets is a valid pack and/or whether each ticket is a valid ticketand means for inhibiting said dispensing mechanism if said pack oftickets and/or an individual ticket is not a valid pack of tickets or avalid individual ticket respectively.
 34. A ticket dispenser inaccordance with claim 33, wherein said electronic control includes achipcard associated with the or each pack of tickets and wherein saidinformation is stored on said chipcard.
 35. A ticket dispenser inaccordance with claim 34, wherein said chipcard contains said storedinformation relating to said game of chance.
 36. A ticket dispenser inaccordance with claim 33, wherein said electronic control comprises arandom number generator for generating a random number in a rangeassociated with said game of chance.
 37. A ticket dispenser inaccordance with claim 36, wherein said random number generator iscontained in or controlled via said chipcard.
 38. A ticket dispenser inaccordance with claim 36, wherein means is provided for changing theattributes of said game of chance and/or of said random numbergenerator.
 39. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 38, whereinmeans are provided for remotely accessing said ticket dispenser tochange said attributes, e.g. via a computer network.
 40. A ticketdispenser in accordance with claim 33, wherein means is provided foroperating the ticket dispensing mechanism to issue a ticket only whensaid game of chance has been won.
 41. A ticket dispenser in accordancewith claim 33, wherein means is provided for initiating a game of chancein response to an input.
 42. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim33, wherein an advertisement is associated with said ticket dispenser.43. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 42, wherein means isprovided for operating or emphasising said advertisement each time agame of chance is won.
 44. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim42, wherein means is provided for operating or emphasising saidadvertisement whenever a game of chance is played, or at least sometimeswhen a game of chance is played.
 45. A ticket dispenser in accordancewith claim 42, wherein said advertisement is combined with said ticketdispenser to form a unit.
 46. A ticket dispenser in accordance withclaim 42, wherein said advertisement is remote from said ticketdispenser.
 47. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 42, whereinsaid ticket dispenser comprises a vertically extending structure servingas a mount for an interchangeable advertisement.
 48. A ticket dispenserin accordance with claim 47, wherein said interchangeable advertisementcomprises an interchangeable foil bearing the advertisement.
 49. Aticket dispenser in accordance with claim 47, wherein saidinterchangeable advertisement comprises one of an interchangeable mask,sculpture and hood capable of placement over said vertically extendingstructure.
 50. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 42, whereinmeans is provided for highlighting said advertisement, e.g. by the useof lights or movable elements or by audible means.
 51. A ticketdispenser in accordance with claim 50, wherein means is provided foroperating said highlighting means during specific time periods orwhenever a game of chance is won or when a game of chance is played. 52.A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 42, wherein saidadvertisement is related to a promotional activity underway at thelocation where the ticket dispenser is situated and wherein means isprovided for initiating a game of chance in relation to an eventassociated with said promotional activity, e.g. purchase of a specificitem, or brand of item, or goods or services at a point of sale wheresaid ticket dispenser is located.
 53. A ticket dispenser in accordancewith claim 42, wherein the ticket dispenser is configured to resemble aproduct being promoted, e.g. in a public house or bar as a beer tapresembling a beer tap associated with a particular make of beer.
 54. Aticket dispenser in accordance with claim 42, wherein said ticketdispenser is configured as a gaming machine.
 55. A ticket dispenser inaccordance with claim 33, wherein it is adapted to issue lottery ticketsin response to a purchase input.
 56. A ticket dispenser in accordancewith claim 33 provided with a plurality of outputs for dispensing atleast one of the following items: a) a winning ticket in relation to agame of chance initiated in connection with a promotional activity, e.g.the purchase of a particular item, or an item of a particular brand, b)a lottery ticket following purchase of the same, e.g. by insertion of acoin or in response to an input from a cashier at a cash till, c) awinning ticket in response to a game of chance initiated by a customer,e.g. by insertion of a coin or in response to an input from a cashier ata cash till.
 57. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 33 incombination with a point of sale including a cash till, a bar scannerfor scanning bar codes on items purchased by a customer and means fortransmitting information between the cash till and/or the bar scannerand the ticket dispenser.
 58. A ticket dispenser in accordance withclaim 57, wherein said means for transmitting information comprises adata network, an electronic interface for a radio or an infrared link.59. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 57, wherein a conveyorbelt is provided alongside the cash till for conveying items purchasedby a customer past a cashier seated at the cash till, wherein saidticket dispenser is provided behind said cashier when said cashier isseated at said cash till and optionally at a position in line with saidconveyor belt, and wherein access to the inside of the housing isprovided through a region corresponding to the front and/or rear of theticket dispenser in the upright operating position.
 60. A ticketdispenser in accordance with claim 33 and adapted to contain, for eachticket dispensing mechanism, at least first and second packs of tickets,said dispensing mechanism being adapted to automatically change overfrom said first pack of tickets to said second pack of tickets.
 61. Aticket dispenser in accordance with claim 33, wherein said ticketdispensing mechanism comprises a carousel carrying a plurality of packsof tickets each movable into a ticket feeding position adjacent saiddispensing mechanism.
 62. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim60, wherein each said pack of tickets comprises a continuous web oftickets, wherein a conveyor roll is provided in said ticket dispenserand extends transversely to a web conveying direction, wherein a firstwall means is provided at one side of said conveyor roll and defineswith said conveyor roll a first passage for conveying a first web oftickets belonging to said first pack of tickets, wherein a second wallis provided at an opposite side of said conveyor roll and defines withsaid conveyor roll a second passage for conveying a second web oftickets belonging to said second pack of tickets, actuating means forpressing a selected one of said first wall means and said second wallmeans towards said conveying roll to clamp the respective said webtherebetween for conveying movement in said conveying direction andmeans for driving said conveyor roll in a first direction when saidfirst web is to be conveyed and in a second direction when said secondweb is to be conveyed to produce in each case conveying movement of aselected one of said first and second webs in said conveying direction.63. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 62 and comprising a codereader provided in said ticket dispenser proximate to said conveyor rollfor reading codes provided on said first and second webs.
 64. A ticketdispenser in accordance with claim 63, wherein said code reader isprovided downstream of said conveyor roll with respect to said directionof conveying movement.
 65. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim62 including means disposed downstream of said conveyor roll in saiddirection of conveying movement for bending a conveyed ticket at aleading end of one of said first and second webs to and fro about a lineof intended separation from said web, to weaken a connection betweensaid leading ticket and said web prior to issuing said leading ticketfrom said dispenser through a dispensing slot for removal by a person ata dispensing position.
 66. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim65, wherein said bending mechanism comprises a transport roller fortransporting said leading ticket into a dispensing slot, means forpivoting said bending mechanism to and fro about an axis and into saiddispensing position and means for actuating said transport roller whensaid bending mechanism is in said dispensing position to dispense saidleading ticket through said dispensing slot.
 67. A ticket dispenser inaccordance with claim 66 and including a separating wheel for pressingagainst said weakened connection and for movement transverse to saiddirection of conveying movement of said web to break said web along saidweakened connection.
 68. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 66,wherein an ejecting roller is mounted adjacent said dispensing slot toeject said leading ticket through said dispensing slot.
 69. A ticketdispenser in accordance with claim 62, wherein said first and secondwebs of tickets are present in fanfold form and are provided in saiddispenser housing on either side of a vertical plane and are disposedabove said conveying roll in an operating position of said ticketdispenser.
 70. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 69, whereinsaid ticket dispenser comprises a first portion resembling an open mouthin cross-section with said tickets being dispensed through said openmouth.
 71. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 62, wherein arespective spring loaded clamping plate is provided for each said webupstream of said conveyor roll for clamping each said web against therespective one of said first and second wall means.
 72. A ticketdispenser in accordance with claim 62, wherein said actuating meanscomprises a respective solenoid operated plunger for moving each saidwall means.
 73. A ticket dispenser in accordance with claim 62, whereina plurality of housing sections of similar design are provided adjacenteach other and are each designed to receive respective first and secondpacks of tickets, wherein said conveyor roll extends through all saidadjacent sections and is drivable to convey a ticket from any one ofsaid packs of tickets, a specific ticket being selected by actuation ofa said actuating means associated with said ticket to bring said ticketinto conveying contact with said conveyor roll.
 74. A ticket dispenserin accordance with claim 33 and including a receiver for receiving acommunication transmitted by wireless means, e.g. a radio link, ashort-range radio link or an infrared link from a transmitter disposedremote from said ticket dispenser.
 75. A method of operating a gamingmachine comprising the following steps: providing a set of winningnumbers, triggering a random number generator to generate a randomnumber in a range greater than and including all or at least some ofsaid winning numbers, checking whether a random number generated by saidrandom number generator corresponds to a winning number and, if this isthe case, issuing a ticket which is a winning ticket with the details ofthe win printed on the ticket.
 76. A method of playing a game inaccordance with claim 75, wherein said random number generator istriggered to generate a random number in response to any one of thefollowing inputs: recognition of the purchase of a specific product by acustomer recognition of the purchase of a specific brand by a customerrecognition of a purchase equalling or exceeding a specific amount by acustomer an authorisation given by an operator of the game in responseto the insertion of a coin by a patron in response to insertion of agame authorisation card by a patron.
 77. A method in accordance withclaim 75, wherein said method further comprises the steps of preprintingthe level of each win on each ticket of a sequence of tickets.
 78. Amethod in accordance with claim 75, including the step of printing thelevel of the win on each ticket of a sequence of tickets after a gamehas been won and prior to issue of the ticket.
 79. A method inaccordance with claim 78, wherein the levels of possible wins arepredefined and stored in a chipcard associated with the game of chance.80. A method in accordance with claim 75, including the step ofpreprinting identification codes on each ticket and checking that eachticket bears a valid identification code prior to issuing a said ticket.81. A method in accordance with claim 77 and comprising the step ofcovering over the pre-printed information concerning the level of eachwin on each ticket so that it is illegible prior to issue of the ticketand removal of the cover.
 82. A method of promoting Internet shoppingcomprising the steps of: presenting a customer making a purchase via theInternet of either a service or a product with the opportunity toparticipate in a game of chance, either as a result of the purchase orat an additional charge, conducting a game of chance, advising thecustomer whether he has won or lost and, in the event of a win,transferring the win to the customer.
 83. A method in accordance withclaim 82, wherein the step of transferring the win to the customer cancomprise one of the following: reducing the charge for a purchase he hasmade, physically sending the customer a prize, operating a printerprovided by the customer to print a voucher permitting redemption of aprize, providing an account for the customer with an entry permitting arebate against a future purchase.
 84. A method in accordance with claim82 and comprising the further step of displaying the operation of aticket dispenser in accordance with claim
 33. 85. A method in accordancewith claim 84, wherein the step of displaying the operation of a ticketdispenser comprises the provision on a screen of the purchaser of arepresentation of a ticket dispenser used at a point of sale.
 86. Amethod in accordance with claim 85 and including the step of displayingon a purchaser's screen the issue of a winning ticket from a ticketdispenser used at an actual point of sale.
 87. A method in accordancewith claim 82 and comprising the step of displaying on a customer'sscreen a winning ticket capable of being stored or printed by thecustomer.
 88. A method in accordance with claim 87, in which the ticketis a covered ticket and the customer is given the possibility ofuncovering the ticket.
 89. A method in accordance with claim 88, inwhich the winning ticket resembles a scratch ticket and the customer isprovided with an electronic scraper for scratching said ticket.